Machine for cutting ice cream blocks



1933- J. F. SCHMERHEIM MACHINE FOR CUTTING ICE CREAM BLOCKS Filed Dec. 5, 1928 8 SheetsrSheet 1 ,1933. J. F. SCHMERHEIM 1,896,788

MACHINE FOR CUTTING ICE CREAM BLOCKS Filed Dec. 5, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. F. SCHMERHEIM.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING ICE CREAM BLOCKS Feb. 7, 1933.

8 Sheets-Shet 3- 7 Filed Dec. 5, 1928 s W \lls. 0

[:(III llllllillellUll llllllll: llllll Ill ZM vgfajemtoz Feb. 7, 1933. J. F. SCHMERHEjM MACHINE FOR CUTTING ICE CREAM BLOCKS 8 Sheets Sheet 4 Filed Dec.

Feb. 7, 1933. 1 sg M m 1,896,788

MACHINE FOR CUTTING ICE CREAM BLOCKS Filed Dec. 5, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 F/oiai Feb. 7, 1933. J. F. SCHMERHEIM MACHINE FOR CUTTING ICE CREAM BLOCKS Filed Dec.- 5, 1928 8 SheetsSheet 6 Fgb. 7; 1933.

J. F" SCHMERHEIM MACH INE FOR CUTTING ICE CREAM BLOCKS 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Dec. 5, 1928 w i 3 i i 8. Q

Feb. 7, 1933. JHF, SCHMERHElM 1,896,788

' MACHINE FOR CUTTING ICE CREAM BLOCKS I Filed Dec. 5, 1928 8 Shets-Sheet 8 Patented Feb. 7, 1933 umrso STATES PA-TE NT OFFICE JoHNr. scHMERHEIM, F oLnvELAnn,onronssrelvon TO THE KAY MACHINERY COMPANY, or CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION or OHIO MACHINE F01. commerce CREAM BLocKs' Application filed December '5, 1928. Serial No..323,9!0.

This invention relates to'machines of the type that are employed for cutting blocks of ice cream intobricks of varying size by. feeding such blocks intermittently toward and beyond one or more-reciprocating knives.

It is the general object'of the invention, to provide a machine: of this character. with means whereby .the intermittent feeding movement imparted to thesaid block may be quickly, conveniently, and accurately varied, thereby to efiect a like variation in the length and size of the bricks. A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of this character with'means forautoinatically stopping the feeding movement of theblock and its supporting carriage and the recipro cation of the knife or knives when the block and its support shall have, been moved a predetermined distance toward the cutting knives, wherebythe feeding and cutting ac-. tions may be automatically suspended when thelast brick or series of bricks shall have been cut; also to provide for a machine of I this. character automatically operating means a: whereby the knife-operating mechanism may.-

not be accidentally put into operation; also to provide a machine of this character with indicating means operatively connected with the carriage feeding means whereby varlations in thelength of the feeding strokes of the latter means may bequickly. and conveniently obtained and indicated; also to provide for machines of this character an improved construction and mounting for the knives. Further and more detailed objects of theinvention will appear hereinafter and will be realizedin and through the construction and arrangement of parts shown in the drawings, wherein Fig. .1 represents a side elevation, Fig. 2 a front elevation, and

3 a plan view of a machine'embodying my lnventlon; Fig. '4 a longitudinal sectlonal view of the said'machlne corresponding to the line 44 of Fig. 3;Figs. 5 and 6 are details in cross section corresponding respectiveiy to the lines 55 and 66 of Fig. 3, certain parts being shown in elevation; Fig. 7 an end elevation of the'feed adjusting and indexing mechanism; Fig. 8 a detail in section corresponding substantially to the line 8-8 of Fig. 7; Fig. 9e sectional" elevation corresponding to the line 9 9-of Fig.' 8;

Fig.:;1() a detailin plan of the mechanism '1 shown in Fig. 7-; Fig. .11 adetail inlongi tudinal section through the mechanism: for

driving theishaft A which feeds: the block-supporting carriage;v Figs. 12 and 13 details in section corresponding respectively to the lines 12-,-12 and 13 1e of Fig. 11 Fig. 14 a detail in section corresponding to the line 1414t of Fig.12, the inner clutch'bushing being shown in elevation; Fig. 15 a detail nisms; Fig. 16 a detail insection detail in section corresponding to the-line 17-17 of Fig. 16; Fig. 18 a detail in section through thehandle for resetting the switch mechanism and through the cooperating part of the frame of the'machine; F ig. 19 a front elevation of the knives and their mounting;

Fig. 20 a sectional elevation corresponding to the line '2020 of Fig. 19; 'Fig. 21- a detail in-perspective of the transverse knife and one of the longitudinal knives; Fig. 22 a detail in perspective of one of the stripper frames; and Fig. 23 a detail in perspective of a block of ice cream and its support.

The machine I described and illustrated herein comprises generally a supporting base, a bed carried by said .base, a carriage reciprocably mounted on said bed, means for moving; the said table intermittently toward and beyond a setof vertically reciprocating knives, means for reciprocating the said knives toward and. from the said table, a, motor, a shaft driven by said motor con-' 1 nections between said shaft and theknives for reciprocating the latter, connections between said shaft and the carriage-feeding mechanism for feeding the carriageinter mittently in one direction; means for vary ing the amplitude of the intermittentfeeding movements of said table; an automatic switch for stopping the motor at the end of the forward travel of the carriage; and a,

safety lock for said switch. 1" i Describing the; parts by reference charac- I supporting portion 2 and supporting legs 3. Mounted on the base is a bed castlng A C0111? prismg a horizontal inwardly extend ng ters, 1, denotes abase having an'upper bedhaving brackets 6 projecting upwardly there from, whiclrbrackets' support longitudinal rails 7 on. which the carriage. 8 slides. Each' lateral edge of the upper surface of the'lcar- 1 V riage is provided with a notch or rabbet '8 which receives the inner edge of a finishing and holding-down plate 9,.eachof these plates being "alsousupportedf in Qrabbeted seats 6 in i the top, of the'bed A, being secured to the top 2 0, of?saidbedy asby screws (see Figs. 3,

and'G); p V, A c The rear-end ofthe'carriage is provided with" uprights 11 to which a-nd'the' tbp of such rear ends there is secured an angular bracket 12 carrying an operating handle 13.. At one side of the top of the bed is a long longitudinally extending guide plate '14, sup lported from the top of the bed by brackets 15. vAt the other side of the top of the bed'and adj acentto the frontof the same is a shorter guide-plate 14i supported by one or more 7 brackets15 "These guide platesare spaced apart the width of the board or table 16 which carriesfthe ice cream'block 17 (see Figs. '5'

and 23).

Secured to top tr the bed and ex tending across the deck 5 and'ab'ove and frameibeing so positioned as to'strip from the said transverse knife any br1cks of 166 '7 cream that may tend to adher'ethereto; The

front stripper frame is provided with a pin rality of longitudinallyextending slots 18 for-the longitudinal knives to be described heremafter), three such slots being shown 7 (see Figs; land 22). v

v .Oatting mechanism I The cutting mechansm comprises across 7 head connected-to a'pair of vertically reciprocable rods driven by cranks and connecting" rods fromthe motor shaft, the rodsbeing so positioned and supported as to move'the V knivesin"operativerelation to the stripping frames whichhave been described. 3

I The bed A is preferably formed asa casting and has, guide sleeves formed therewith. In the top and'bottom of each. guide ,sleevethere is driven a journal sleeve, the

ed on top of the rods 28.

cross head 24 are longitudinally extending 1,896,788 I' g i in these journal sleeves and have mounted on the upper ends thereof a cross head which consists generally of an upper transverse frame 24t which is, carried by sleeves 25 mount- Se'cured to the brackets comprising each a base portion 24? which is securedto the cross bar and each'of V which has an angular vseat26" for the upper '7 end and one side of a longitudinal blade 27, the saidgblad'es being secured to the brackets fbymeans ofblocks 28 andbolts 28*, the bolts extending through apertures. in the upper ends of thebladesa-nd serving to press the faces of thebladesyopposite said blocks v against the longitudinal sides of'sthe said angularseats. i r V r Each sleeve 25.is provided-with an inwardly extending supporting bracket 25 tofwhich brackets are boltedthe opposite lateral edges of the transverse blade 29." The manner in- -and the topof one of the slots29 are in engagement, the lower edges 'of-theblades 27 and 29 will be in substantially thesame horizontal plane. It will benoted that the portion of each blade'27 which is at the rear of Kmaaam mimam .Themechanismifo'rdriving the knivesas well as for.intermittentlyadvancing the carriage 8 includes an electric motor '30 having a shaft 31 and supportedona platform '31 carried by the base; it also includes a gear reduction box 32 provided with reducing gears (not shown) by which atransverse. 1

which-the blades are assembled is shown in; Figs. 2 and 21, from which it will appear that the transverse blade 29 is provided with var:

tical slots 29 'one for each longitudinal'blade. 27, the said slots extending upwardly from' the'slot 27 does notextendfor the full height of said blade, each blade being secured in its seat 26 by its frontportion127 I 7' r a shaft 33'is driven, the gear reduction box-and J l the shaft 33 being also supported onthe platform 31*. -Theknives are 'recipr'ocated by ,means of cranks 84 secured at opposite ends to theshaft 33 and connecting rods 35-driven a by said cranks andconnectedattheir oppositeends to the lower ends of-the rods 23.

YUM-ridge feeding'bwcham'sm a transverse shaft below said rack having a gear thereon adapted to mesh with sa d rack,

The carriage feeding mechanism comprisesa rack on the bottom of the carr age,

'ternallythreaded extension 46 interposed block 60 which is slidably guideway 43 and is approximately of the width of said guideway, being somewhat less in depth than the depth of the guideway.

The collar 52 is provided with an inter" gear-carrying shaft in one direction, as will.

now be described in detail.

36 denotes a shaft journaled at one end in a bracket 37 depending from the deck 5 of the bed A and supported adjacent to'its other side in a journal 38 in the lower end of one side of the bed.

sprocket 40 on the shaft 36 and a chain 41. The outerend of the shaft 36 is secured by a pin 36 to a hub 42 on a crank arm 42 ex tending radially outwardly from the end of the shaft 36 and having a guideway 43 propending flanges 47 extending on opposite sides of the crank arm 42 and having an inbetwe-enthe flanges '45. This threaded extension'receives the threaded end 48 of a screw-'48 which is rotatablymounted in a thrust block .49 adapted to bear against the end of the arm 42 which is remote from the shaft 36. The screw 48 is providedwith an integral collar 48 adapted to engage the outer face. of the thrust block 49 and has securedthereto an inner collar 48 adapted to engage the inner face of said thrust block.

The block'46 is provided with a hub 46" and with a bore '46 extending through such hub. At the bottom of the hub is a horizontal annular seat 50 for the bottom of the inner race 51 of an annular ball bearing. 52 represents a collar having an inner cylindrical surface 52 for the outer cylindrical surface of an outer ball race 53 and also having ahorizontal annular seat 52 at thebottom thereof for the bottom of said ball race." Anti-frictionballs 54 are interposed between the inner and outer races, and the outer race is shown as held to its seat by means of a locking ring 55 secured'to the collar 52 by means ofshort bolts 56. i a 1 57 denotes a disk having a central opening 57 registering with the bore 46 and having a centrally depressed lower face 57 adapted i to engage the upper end of the inner ball race 51 and hold the same on its seat. I

58 denotes a bolt extending through the bores 57 a lower end of this bolt is threaded into a mounted in the nally threaded extension 52 into which is threaded one end of a connecting rod 61.

This shaft is driven constantly while the motor is running by means of a sprocket .39 on the shaft 33 and a and 46 and through the slotbe tween the flanges 45, the bolt being provided with a head 58 resting on awasher 59. The

62 with an arm 63 projecting from a hub63. This hub provided with a hardened;

bushing64- having a driving fit therein, the said hub and bushing being rotatably mounted. upon a bushing. 65 secured to thetransverse shaft 66 by means ofia key66, car.-

ried-by the shaft and entering elongated keyway 65 in the last mentioned bushing. The bushing 65 extends beyond the outer end of the hub 63 and has secured thereto a thrust collar 67.- I l The bushing 65 extends inwardly beyond the hub 63 and is provided with ashoulder 66 at its inner end which fits into an"- annular seat 68Fat the inner end of a collar 68between which and the collar 67 the hub is r a gear 71 adapted towmeshwitha rack 72 on the underside of the carriage 8.

- In order to drive the shaft 66 in one direc'-" tion only, a roller clutch is provided between the bushings '64 a'nd: 65, the latter bushing being provided with inclined pockets 73 with rollers 74 thereinand springs 75 back of said rollers and. tending to force them into" engagement with the inner face of the bush-- ing 64. It. will be evident that, with this arrangement, the shaft'66 will be rotated only by movements *of' the bushing64jin a counter-clockwise direction .1 (see Fig, 12).

In order to prevent reverse rotation of the shaft=66 due to the movement of the bushing 64 in" the opposite or clockwise direction,'I provide affrictionbrake for thebushing 65,said:'brake" consisting of a pair of I intermittently only in one direction and that the extent of each intermittent movement may be varied by merely turning the screw 48 to move the bolt 58, with its block 60, toward or from the'axis of the shaft 36, with 7 like variations in the throw'of the crank on whichthe collar 52 is mounted. a

i The end of the shaft 66 which isopposite the hub 63 is'provided with a reduced portion 66 and a head 66 at the end thereof beyond such reduced portionb Above this end of the shaft there is pivoted alever 79 having a fork 79Fat its lower end adapted to embrace the reduced portion 66 of theshaft;

By'operating the lever 79, the shaft66 may 7 be moved. axially of itself thereby to move 1 of the bed atth'eend of the brick-cutting opi eration. (The operator merely ,moves the the .gear '71 into and outof'engagement with the rack72, such disengagement being advantageousfwhen' it'is'desired to return the carriage to the rear orblock-receiving end lever 7 v9 in the appropriate direction as=indi- 'cated by dot-anddash lines on Fig. 5, which will disengage the gear 71 from the rack-72 and'enable him to pull the carriagebodily rearwardly by the handle 13.. When the carriage is:in its rearward position, he then moves the lever in the opposite direction,

thereby bringing the gear and rack into enagementi r 1 'I'n'order' to enable the operator'convenient- 1; to vary th v feeding stroke of the carriage so as tocut'abrick of the desired length (the term .leng'th referring to the fore-andaft dimension .of the brick) I have prcvided the block 42 withxseries of numbered lines80, 8O and and the cooperating flange 47' of the block 46xwith lines C, D and E.- When One of thelines 'on the flanges47 is brought 7 into register with alineon the block 4C2, the a crank pin will havebeen set to a position 39.;which will cause the knife 29 to cut the bricks to a. length corersponding to such'register The length of the bricks,

' 15 to 18 inclusive, it willybe seen that the.

ing indications. or the number of bricks to' the quart or, gallon, can be readily determined by reference- .to a table in the possession of the operator.

A tomatio stopfmechahsm, l a

Referring more particularly to'Figs. and

' carriage is provided with a downwardly extending projection 81 which'is, adapted to enlgagle the upper end of an arm 82 secured to a short rocks'h aft 83, the said rock shaft carry inga mercury switch comprising: a'tube 84c I and terminals 85, 85 which, when covered by the mercury, close the circuit to'the motor- 30 through wires 86, 86*. When the car riap'ejhasbeen advanced the maximum de'- sired distance (as when the last brick has been: cut from the blockfofcice cream) the i projection 81 strikes the'uppercend of the arm 82 and rocks itrtoythei position shown'in dot-and-dash lines, therebytiltirig the tube 84 and allowing the mercury to run down to I the. right hand end of'said tube, breaking the 7 connection betweenthe terminals 85 and. '85.

" in Thisresults in=opening the motor circuit and iii suspending both the carriage-feeding b I oration and the knife-reciprocating operation.

a handle comprising an arm 87 having-a hub The outerendioftheshaft is provided-with 70 e V 87 pinned to the shaft. The upper end of the arm 87 has a sleeve 87 formed therewith, the outer end of this sleeve being provided with a head 87 having a. central perforation 87 through which. arod 88 extends. ,This rod is secured at its outer end toa knurled handle 89, asby a pin 89 and has within the sleeve 87 b a collar 88 between'whiehand thehead 87 there is interposed a .spring 90,

which springpresses the rod. andthe'handle 3 89 toward thejadjacent side offthe forward part of the bed frame'Aj; This bed frame is e 7 provided with a recess 91 forming a seat into i which the adjacent'end of therod 88 will be,

pressed bythe spring when thesaidend; N of the rod and the said recess are-inregister, j I which'i's when the motor circuitis open. :This I v looks the switch in circuit-breaking position v and prevents the acc dental 'resettingiof 'the switch, which would cause the knives to reciprocate, with resultant risk ofinjury to the operator;

of appropriate size and shape andaretransferred from the latter to theboards or, tables As iswell known' to hat famin warlike art towhich' this invention relates, the ice cream'blocks are supported: on pans-or trays'9 16; This transfer is usually accomplished V by dipping/the pans into" hot 'watervfor' a length of time sufficient to soften thevice cream and enable itto dropfrom the pans" 1 uponrtheiboards or tables. However," this 1 operation of softening the'bottom and edges of the blocks requires considerabletime." In

orderto shorten the time I provide'the machine with a compressor.driven'from the shaft 33 and pumpingair into a tank from which avalve controlled hose is ledto the rearsof the machineor other placeiconven- .i'ent ofa'ccess to the panscontainingLtherice cream" blocks. By providing thebottom of each pan with an apertureand'delivering compressed airj from the hose through such" 5 aperture, the block-in such pan will be'quick- 1v dislodged; after a materially shorter time bottom-of the blocks than if the blocks were for warming and softening the' edges and removed from their pans in the ordinary" 7 1 Fromthe foregoingdescription, a will be." apparent that I have-produced'a machine'of the-character described which is safe and: j efficient in operation: which will 'enable'the operator conveniently" and quickly to cut a block of ice cream into bricks of any desired. length and rwhich is so constr'uct'ed as to withstand all ordinary incidents of use;

i I claim is:

In a machine ofthecharacter described;

Having thus describedmyinvehtionQwhat the combination of a bed, a knife-carrying frame reciprocable toward and from said bed, a carriage movable along said bed toward and from said frame, an electric motor, connections between said motor andsaid carriage for feeding the carriage intermittently toward the said frame, connections between said motor and'said frame for reciprocating the latter, means for Varying the amplitude of the intermittent feeding movements of the carriage, a switch for opening and closing the motor circuit arranged to be operated by the carriage to open said circuit when the carriage shall have been fed a predetermined distance, and means for automatically looking the said switch in circuit-opening position. v

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a bed, a lmife-carrying frame reciprocable toward and from said bed, a carriage movable along said bed toward and from said frame, an electric motor, ,connections between said motor and said carriage for feeding the carriage intermittently toward and beyond the said frame, connections between said motor and said frame for reciprocating the latter, a switch for opening and closing the motor circuit arranged to be operated by the carriage to open said circuit when the carriage shall have been fed a predetermined distance, and means for automatically locking, the said sw'itch'in circuitopening position.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

JOHN F. SCHMERHEIM. 

